Why Visual Content Will Explode In 2015

Over the past few years, content marketing has seen an explosive growth, and it shows no signs of slowing down. While the Internet abounds in reports and surveys that highlight this trend, I’m going to share with you two very insightful stats related to the boom:

With companies across every industry turning to content as a way to engage a new breed of buyers, we are starting to see a need for maturity and evolution in content marketing. While so many companies are now proclaiming to do content marketing, not everyone is doing it right. There’s less fresh and original content, and more rehashed stuff, which is making the online space reek of that same old regurgitated content.

Clearly, we have reached a point where the work we are doing needs to change. Change how? Various marketing gurus are prescribing various formulas for the coming year. But, I believe that change will be driven by something a handful of astute marketers are already doing: visual content. I think visual content will take center stage in content strategy, making it a critical component in 2015.

Source: Creative Commons

Breaking the Mold with Visual Content

Plain, boring text is passé; visual is in. Science reports that we respond to visual stimulation much better then optical. In the case of reading, our brain decodes visual information 60,000X faster than text. It’s not surprising that YouTube has become the 2nd largest search engine next to
Google. Sites like Pinterest and Instagram have risen to popularity, and storytelling as the most effective branding strategy is gaining momentum. All fingers are pointing at one direction – visual content is growing bigger, and that’s where the future of content marketing is headed.

In 2015, we are going to see:

More YouTube

The rise of video as a brand marketing channel will become bigger and better than ever in 2015. Brands will flock to YouTube. What’s more compelling is that with YouTube, brands have the option of taking their influencer campaigns to a whole new level. By getting people with YouTube clout to feature in their videos, brands are sure to grab more eyeballs than before.

More SlideShare

SlideShare will become your go-to destination for repurposing existing content that you may have created for blogs, eBooks, podcasts, and more. Turning that content into sleek presentations is a great way to breathe new life into them. Not only this, presentations will make visual storytelling so much more interesting, which will have brands spending quite a lot of time on SlideShare, creating and sharing presentations with their consumers.

More Infographics

Content like infographics and data visualizations will become great alternatives to data-rich text. With infographics, you can blast out stats and facts to your audience in fun and creative ways that will keep them engaged in a way that text cannot. These visual and sharable pieces are received well. When given a choice between reading pages of text or an infographic, the infographic is sure to win out.

More Memes and Imagery

These days memes are everywhere in social media. And the trend is only going to get better in 2015. As trending hashtags like: #BreakTheInternet, #AlexFromTarget, and #Bendgate sensationalized the web, memes pushed them over the top and into the category of Internet’s latest obsession. Consumers can’t seem to get enough; so we’re going to see more of these in the coming year.

While we all know these forms of visual content aren’t new, what will be new is seeing more companies utilizing them. If you go to many company websites today, you still find written content primarily. With more options to creatively present information and upcycle older content, brands are going to be giving viewers access to the information they want in the format that they want. I predict that this explosion of visual content will be the next big wave in content marketing.

What is your brand's strategy for embracing the rapid growth of content and the movement toward more visual content?

I am a principal analyst of Futurum Research and CEO of Broadsuite Media Group. I spend my time researching, analyzing and providing the world’s best and brightest companies with insights as to how digital transformation, disruption, innovation and the experience economy are...